Page 48 of Entangled in the Woods
I stripped out of my running shorts and threw them toward my closet where my laundry basket was. Not caring that I was sweaty, I flopped onto my bed. I was still vibrating with need from the woods. Running home hadn’t removed any of the tension that was inside of me. The tension that had been building for the last weeks. It never went away. It just kept building, like one block on top of another. The tower was builtso high it was wobbling. I needed the block tower to fall, and the only option was my hand. Maybe after I found relief, Everett’s sexual atmosphere wouldn’t affect me, and I could control myself around him.
I reached between my legs and found the sensitive spot I was searching for. It didn’t take me long to find release. Moaning as I came down from the climax, I realized once again that Everett was right. I was loud. Damn it. Why was I thinking of him again? This little rendezvous in my bed was supposed to rid me of him.
Rolling over, I groaned. I still felt the tension between my legs. My hand had only knocked a couple of blocks off the tower. I knew if I encountered Everett again, I would add even more blocks, and I would find myself in the same situation I’d been in only a couple of minutes ago. What was wrong with me?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I tooka shower and tried to cool off my insides, but that was unsuccessful. Wrapping a towel around myself, I walked back to my room. On my desk was the reminder of the meeting I’d had this morning with Professor Robinson.
Sinking into the desk chair, I laid my head against the cool wood top. This was what defeat looked like. I couldn’t do anything right. Everett left me wanting, in the worst way possible. Who was I kidding? I enjoyed it, encouraged it.
I turned my face, letting my other cheek feel the chill of the desk. The more time I spent with Everett, the less time I had to conduct my research. Even thinking about him took me away from my work. I was distracted. Robinson knew that I had been away from the cabin.How long until he connected the dots and found out about the shifters? I couldn’t be responsible for outing them.
The plastic bag of brown rot Everett had given me sat on my desk, inches away from my face. I picked it up and rubbed the outside of the plastic bag with my fingers. I’d held onto the rot Everett had found because I didn’t know if he had followed to correct procedures when harvesting it, but that made me wonder—had I made a mistake when collecting my own sample? It hadbeen after my first weekend with the shifters that I’d collected the sample I’d given Robinson. Had they already wedged themselves so far into my world that I’d unintentionally broken protocol?
But that couldn’t be right. We’d learned proper collection techniques in Botany 101 during our first year on campus, so it was practically muscle memory for me. I knew what I was doing. I had collected that sample correctly. Something else wasn’t adding up.
Did everyone notice that I was distracted? If Jenny was mentioning something to her professor and Robinson was concerned, I needed to take a step back and reevaluate my relationship with Everett. It wasn’t working. I needed space from the way he made me feel when he was around me. It wasn’t worth losing my scholarship over. The thought of moving back in with my parents made my stomach flip.
The small envelope with my mom’s loopy handwriting was next to my computer. She’d told me before I’d left to let her know if I needed anything. Right now I needed my mom and whatever advice she could give me. I hadn’t talked to her or my dad in a few weeks. A letter postdated a week ago didn’t seem sufficient, especially with my dad’s health. I needed to call them.
I stuck my head out of my room, looking to see if Jenny or Leo were around. I didn’t see anyone, so I made a run for it, bounding down the hallway in my towel, grabbing the new phone and running back to my room, closing the door behind me. I punched in my mom’s cell phone number. It rang only once before she answered.
“Hello?”
“It’s me, Mom,” I said.
“Ismet? Did you hear about my sculptures? Do you want to come view my pieces?”What?
“It’sme, Mom, your daughter, Elise.” I pronounced my words and spoke louder.
“Oh, Elise? Is that you?” I rolled my eyes. This was painful.
“Yes, it’s me, Mom.”
“How are you? I haven’t heard from you in so long!”
“I know. I’ve been busy here.”
“Oh, I’ve been busy too! So busy with my pieces. They’re selling quick! With your father’s medical bills adding up, it’s so nice to have the extra money.”What?
“What’s going on, Mom? Is Dad, okay?”
“What’s delicate?”Oh my god. Help me.
“IsDadokay?” I asked again.
“Oh, Dad. He’s fine now. He broke his femur.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wrote you a letter.” I looked at the unopened letter sitting on my desk. “Bessie’s doing fine too. Don’t worry about her.”
I sighed. “I’m not worried about the cat.”
“What bucket? You need a bucket?”
Was it the connection or my mother? Definitely my mother. There was no way I could bring up my issues with the university now. She would confuseprobationwithvacationand think I was coming home. They had enough going on at home. I would have to figure this out on my own.
